"Darn That Dream" - member recording

[dan_pincus]

Hi,

Been working on another tune called "Darn That Dream". I play this old standard rubato once through the entire tune and then get into a more up tempo feel. It's posted here and also at my website. Hope that I may receive some critiques positive or negative.

Also, I hope others will post their stuff more often so that we may all have discussions about how we practice, how we learn a tune, etc. It helps to post your own music and welcome the comments of members to help alleviate the "fear" of playing for others.

www.DansPianoJazz.com

Thanks!
Dan

[ted]

Thank you for posting your jazz here. I am not good at playing jazz myself but I enjoy listening to other people play it and wish more would post recordings of it. I can understand that playing solo presents a jazz pianist with a quite different task to that of playing with a group, particularly in the matter of rhythmic counterpoint, which he must somehow generate entirely himself. This by implication means being able to think through both hands becomes a vital function; much more so than in classical or romantic improvisation, which often (not always of course - mine doesn't) use mostly harmonic and melodic means for counterpoint, the rhythm being notational rather than intuitive. On the other hand, solo playing dispenses with the need for rigid structures, phrase lengths, progressions and sequences, which I imagine must make things easier, but would come with more responsibility for achieving coherence.

How much of these pieces was worked out and how much played spontaneously ? You obviously do not begin from nothing, as for example Jarrett frequently does. Which elements are fixed and which are varied in the moment ? There seems to exist a tradition in jazz that rhythm varies around rigid harmony, the converse being apparently much rarer, although I have never been able to see why.

As is obvious, I have never been trained in jazz, but as an obsessive general improviser I am nonetheless curious about the mental processes going on.

[dan_pincus]

Hi Ted,

Thank you very much for taking the time to listen to my recording. I really appreciate your comments. It is nice to receive comments from a sophisticated listener like yourself.

There are so many types of solo Jazz piano playing. As you stated:

…solo playing dispenses with the need for rigid structures, phrase lengths, progressions and sequences, which I imagine must make things easier, but would come with more responsibility for achieving coherence.

Some solo pianists work within a rigid structure and others might want to just improvise on an idea and not be confined to a rigid structure. The later was my approach many years ago. This is a more instinctual approach to playing I think.  And at that time I had not been through any Jazz studies program so it really was the only option for me. After a while I grew out of that because I wanted to know how really good musicians played old standards. This would require learning Jazz theory.

Now years later, I try to work from a strong framework when I play a tune. When first learning a tune my first step is to know exactly what the harmonies are or what the chords are. Even if you have to write out the left handed voicings it is imperative that one knows and understands the chords of a tune. Then, become familiar enough so you can play the entire tune from memory. 

Some musicians then proceed to practice scales that can contain the harmony of each chord. I need to do more of that.

Probably one of the most important tools that help me the most is practicing with a metronome. As you know, generally speaking, the strong beats in Jazz land on 2 & 4 whereas in legit playing the emphasis is on 1 & 3. By practicing say, “Darn That Dream” with the metronome ticking on 2 & 4 you begin to feel that “rhythmic counterpoint” or “swing” between both hands. The metronome will show you where your week spots are, where you need practice, and overall help the player feel that sense of swing in their playing.

After playing a tune so many times I begin to play it similarly each time. Certain things are “worked out” on their own, if that makes sense? Spontaneity for me at least is achieved by understanding the framework of the tune which not only includes the chords as mentioned above, but the rhythms, the tunes form, the context (ballad, up-tempo, Latin,  etc.).

Thanks again Ted,
I very much appreciate your observations.
Dan